The present invention pertains to a device for preparing and feeding a monolithic ceramic mass into a metallurgical melting vessel, comprising a mixer and a feeding device. Such a device has been known from, e.g., EP 0,326,461 B1. The (dry) mixture components of the mass are fed into a mixer from silos, mixed with water there, and fed into a spraying device, which is in the form of a lance, wherein the mass is sprayed via the lance onto the wall and the bottom of the metallurgical vessel.
The prior-art device has a relatively complicated design and a considerable outlay for the technical device is required.
A device of this class, in which preparation is carried out outside the area of the metallurgical melting vessel, has also been known from Taikabutsu Overseas, Vol. 1, 49, 51. The finished mass is delivered via a kind of bucket loader into the area above the ladle, which is covered with a conical top such that as soon as the bucket is opened, the mass is able to flow over the cone laterally into the annular space between a template and the inner wall of the ladle. An expensive device is required in this case as well. In addition, the material must be transported over rather long distances, which is also time-consuming.
Finally, a process for lining a metallurgical melting vessel with a monolithic coating mass has been known from practice, according to which the dry components of the mass, drawn off from silos, are mixed after adding water, and are subsequently delivered via a conveyer belt through the opening mouth of the metallurgical vessel, where they reach the area between the template and the inner wall of the metallurgical vessel in the above-described manner. The material must be transported over considerable distances in this case as well. In addition, the mass, which is already thixotropic after addition of water, must be transported over these long distances, which may lead to an uncontrollable change in the viscosity of the mass. In addition, a large amount of work and cleaning must be performed after completion of the lining.